Hoarding and Trust

I have emerged from the boxes and dust that seem to have no end to share some of what I am working on. Well, the truth is that my skill in gathering *stuff* has made this move really challenging. There were of course good reasons to keep things: old school yearbooks, furniture from dead relatives, product samples from when I freelanced in marketing… I also have a lot of interests which require equipment or supplies (paper making forms, stamps, clay, renovation tools, snowboard, camping, 9′ 6″ long board – and then there is the yarn. Hey, I run a knitting group!).

I watched an episode of Hoarders – have you seen that show? There are people who are buried in their own homes by their stuff. Or who don’t live in their homes because there isn’t room for them there. My home isn’t falling in on me but it definitely could use some streamlining. I have adopted the “love it or lose it” approach to clearing clutter and that has helped significantly as I sort through things.

I read a really interesting quote that I will paraphrase since I determined not to get get side tracked to find it. The jist of it was that attachment comes when we do not trust. Hmmm. What am I not trusting by holding on to these things?

The memory items (photos, furniture, paintings, gifts) have something about honoring the person that they were from. Throwing the item away feels disrespectful to the person that it was from. -> I will trust that honoring people from my past doesn’t require that I hang on to physical items.

Past portfolio (marcomm, products, paper/print samples) give a sense of accomplishment for the last 10 years of freelancing. What if someone asks to see printed examples of my work? Funny enough, no one ever has. And for custom work, I’ve always gone out and found specific print or paper samples for individual projects. -> I will trust my resourcefulness to find what I need if and when I need it. I also know that my experience & wisdom aren’t contained in my portfolio…

Extra furniture. O this is a good one. A large factor in this move was merging lives and moving in with my partner. The question is whether to keep the extra bed, dining table, couch, etc. in a storage locker just in case… -> As I learn to lean into interdependence, I trust that we will not need a backup plan and I know that if we do need to re-establish our own places, we will figure out the best way to do it.

What are you attached to? What would be different if you trusted in that area?

I choose to have a home that I love living in and that is a warm place for our friends and family to visit. As I build my new home in partnership, I will lean into trust and let go of the stuff.